Hearing set on proposal to hike city's building fees

MANCHESTER — City aldermen will hold a public hearing Tuesday on proposed increases in building permit fees and the way plumbing permit fees and estimated costs are calculated.

The hearing is scheduled to get underway at 5:45 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers on the third floor of City Hall.

As part of the annual city budget process, department heads were asked to identify potential sources of new revenue enhancements. During that process, Leon LaFreniere, the city’s director of Planning and Community Development, identified four areas within the department that generate the majority of its revenue: permit fees, certificate of compliance fees, Planning Board fees and Zoning Board of Adjustment fees.

A small sample of the proposed changes include:

• The cost for certificates of compliance for dwelling units would jump from $35 to $50, and for rooming units from $15 to $25 per unit.

• Cost of an unaccompanied inspection would increase from $50 to $100 per inspection.

• Cost of a transfer permit for 1 to 4 dwelling units would jump from $125 to $250, and from $250 to $500 for 5 to 8 dwelling units.

• The existing fee of $200 for zoning fees, such as variances, special exceptions, equitable waivers and rehearings, would rise to $350.

• Lot line adjustments would rise from a base fee of $100 to $225.

LaFreniere estimates that the proposed increases could generate an additional $72,000 in permit fees, an additional $92,000 in certificate of compliance fees, an additional $20,000 in Planning Board application fees, and an additional $38,000 in Zoning Board of Adjustment fees, for a total of $222,000 in additional revenues if all the proposed changes were adopted. The enhanced revenue estimates were generated using calendar year 2013 as a baseline.